Centrifugal pipe casting apparatus



Jan. 22, 1935. P. 1... ARNOLD CENTRIFUGAL PIPE v CASTING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 50', 1935 Patented UNITED STATES I 1.9mm OINTBIFUGAL'HPE cssmo msnsrus Paull'alrnolil,

Edgewateg to United States Pipe and Mimic -ignor- Isiahm BurlingtomNJuaccrpcrationelNewlsrsey Application December a, 1m, Serial No. 704,015

' My invention relates a familiar type of centrifugal pipe casting apparatus in which a rotatable metallic mold extends through a water box and in which a portion of the mold lying within 5 the water box is stayed or braced against lateral deflection by means of a surrounding bracing sleeve of greater internal diameter than the external diameter of the mold which it surrounds so as to provide for a flow of water through said sleeve from and to the water box, the sleeve being provided with a multiple series of perforations through its wall to provide for avertical circulation of water through the sleeve'and .over the surface of the mold during periods when the mold is not in rotation. As heretofore constructed, trouble has occurred at times owing to an insufilcient how of water through the bracing sleeve and a prime object of my invention is to provide an improved construction which will insure at all times when the mold is in rotation an ample flow of water through the bracing sleeve and a satisfactory cooling of the mold.

In machines of the kind in question, a usual construction is one in which a driving sleeve is- .secured to one end of the mold, generally to the end of its bell section, the sleeve being 7 from the body of the mold over whichit extends and extending through a wall of the water box with its free end in communication therewithv and in pratclce it has been found difficult to obtain a proper cooling of the portion-of the mold over which the. driving-sleeve extends and in myco-pending application. filed December 30, 1933, Serial Number 704,614 I have described and claimed an improved construction for securing an ample and determinable flow of water from and to the water box and over the portion of the mold lying within thedriving sleeve. Bsentiab iy, this improvement consists in locating in the space between the driving sleeve and the mold a circular partition dividing these spaces into an inner and outer annular channel, connected together at their inner ends and in locating in the waterboxandinconnectionwiththeendof one of said channels an annular centrifugal; pump rotating with the mold and operative to bring about a continued how 'of water thromh the partition and themold and between the circular partition and the driving sleeve. A fin-theiobiect of my present invention is to so locate and connect a centrifugal ump both with the bracing sleeveflppurtihgthemid-sectionofthemoldand withthechannelsfomedin'thespaeesbetween tbemoidandtbedrivins lecvatbatsaid e trifu--.

contact with the mold when annular cbannelaformed between the circular nels formed between the driving sleeve and the mold andilnallyback tothewater box.

Itwillbeunderstoodbythoseskilledinthe art that the liability of the mold to lateral deflection depends mainly upon the length of the mold and its diameter and is particularly useful in case of long molds of relatively small diameter. 7

As heretofore constructed, a bracing sleeve has been provided with a multiple series of holes or perforations provided vertical flow of water through the sleeve and in the mold is at rest but operative also during the rotation of the mold and sleeve to permit of an outward flow of water from .the interior of the sleeve under the influence of' the centrifugal force Created by the rotation of the water with the sleeve, this centrifugal flow of the water through the perforations causing, of course, an inflow of water through the open topermitofa thatabracingsleeve' ends of the sleeve. My invention consists priend of the perfoof a single annular centrifugal pump with th bracing sleeve and with one of the channels formed between the driving sleeve and the mold preferably with the inner channel formed in the space between the driving sleeve and the mold so that the pump after drawing the water through the bracing sleeve will force it successively through the inner and outer annular formed in the space between the driving sleeve and the mold and thence back to the water whilelhave referredtothesleevelurrolmd. ing the mold as a bracing sleeve andwhile in primarily this purpose, it istrue that the per-. forated sleeve extending over the body of the constructions as heretofore made it his song! from its usual function as a bracing sleeve and may be advantageously used in connection with molds of such diameter and such wall thickness as not to necessarily require bracing. Where the sleeve is not required to function 'as a bracing sleeve for the mold, it is obviously not necessary that it should revolve with the mold although, of course, the annular centrifugal pump must in all cases revolve with the mold.

My invention will be best understood as described in connection with the drawing in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a centrifugal pipe casting machine to which my invention relates and embodying my improvements, the elevation being taken on a vertical plane passing through the center line of the pipe mold, the parts shown being broken away in the middle so as to enable the parts to be shownon a larger scale.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation showing the mold and bracing sleeve and embodying a modification of my invention; here also the central portion is broken away to permit the showing of the parts on a larger scale, and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary transverse section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

A indicates the water box having end walls A and A and, as shown, a gear chamber A 'located at one end of the water box. B is a rotatable. centrifugal mold having a bell end B the mold extending through the water box with its ends projecting through the end walls A and A, as shown. The bell end of the mold is provided with a separable ring flange indicated at B and to this ring flange is secured a driving sleeve C which extends through the wall A and into the water box and is so spaced from the bell end of the mold as to leave a water chamber between it and the mold in free communication with the water box; the portion of the driving sleeve extending into the gear chamber A is provided with gear teeth C which are engaged by a train of driving gears'indicated at D and actuated by a motor D As is shown, the spigot end ofthe mold is formed with a sleeve like extension B spaced away from, the mold and extending through and forming a joint with the wall A of the water box.- E is a reinforcing sleeve extending around the central portion of the mold but spaced from it so as to leave a water chamber F between it and the mold and the mold is aligned with the sleeve by means of a multiple series of set screws, as indicated at G, a multiple series of perforations as indicated at E are formed along the length of thereinforcing sleeve E.

To the extent above described the construction indicated is not new with me and represents constructions which have been in use in centrifugal pipe casting machines for many years past.

Referring next to Fig. 1, which illustrates a construction embodying the main feature of my invention, H represents an annular rotary plate rotating with but not directlysecured to the mold I at some distance from the end of the bracing sleeve and extending outward so that its outer portion faces an annular rotary extending plate J secured to the end of the bracing sleeve and between the opposing faces of these plates are secured a series of impeller blades K, so arranged as to constitute 'with the plates a centrifugal.

pump indicated at 0. As shown in Fig. 1, the centrifugal pump is connected to the br sleeve at its end lying close to the spigot end of the mold and in Fig. 3'the centrifugal pump constructed in substantially the same manner is connected to the end of the bracing sleeve which lies adjacent to the bell end of the mold. In the construction of Fig. 3, I have indicated the space lying between the driving sleeve C and the mold as divided into two annular channels connected at their inner ends, by a circular partition L, the channels being indicated at M and M and the connection between them at W and I have indicated a hood extension from the outer end of the circular partition as indicated at N, which extends over the centrifugal pump 0 a flange N at the end of the hood lapping but not being attached to the radial plate J. The hood forming a delivery channel, as indicated at P, by means of which water delivered by the pump is forced into the annular channel M, thence through the connection M into the outer channel M and thence 'back into the water box. To check such rotary movement as may be imparted to the water in passing through the annular centrifugal pump, 1 provide vanes as indicated at Q in the In operation and referring first to Fig. 1, when 1 the mold is in rotation the centrifugal pump 0 revolves with it and at a linear speed determined by its radial distance from the center of the revolving mold and its operation is to draw the water from the water box into the open end of the bracing sleeve through the space F between the sleeve and the mold and thence radially outward into the water box. The capacity of the centrifugal pump isdetermined partly by its linear speed and partly by the setting of the impeller blades and should be such as to insure that water is drawn through the bracing sleeve in suificient quantity and at suflicient velocity to bring about such cooling of the mold as is found to be desirable in use. The important function-of the multiple perforations formed in the bracing sleeve E is to'insure that during rest periods, when the mold is not in rotation, a flow of water will still occur through the sleeve and in contact with the mold in a vertical direction. when the mold and sleeve are in rotation, the water passing through the sleeve is also rotated and has, therefore, a tendency to flow outward through the perforations formed in the sleeve, a tendency which will be more or less counteracted by the action of the centrifugal pump which must be such as to insure the maintenance of a flowing stream of water within the bracing sleeve and in contact with the mold during the casting and so long as the mold remains at a normal rotative speed.

Referring next to Fig. 3, the operation of the. centrifugal pump, here indicated at 0 with re gard to the bracing sleeve, is the same as that described in connection with Fig. 1, but in place of delivering the water drawnfrom the sleeve directly into the water box, as is the case with the construction of Fi 1, the water delivered from the annular centrifugal pump 0 passes through of water between Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a centrifugal pipe casting machine-comprising a water box, a metallic mold extending through said water box, means for rotating said mold, the combination therewith of a sleeve surrounding but spaced away from the mold, said sleeve having an open end for the inflow of water and an outlet opening located at a distance from said inlet opening and having perforations formed through its walls between said inlet and outlet openings and an annular centrifugal pump rotating with the mold and connected to draw water in through the inlet opening and out through the outlet opening of the sleeve so as to secure a longitudinal flow of water through the sleeve between said inlet and outlet openings.

2. In a centrifugal pipe casting machine comprising a water box, a metallic mold extending through said water box, means for rotating said mold and a perforated sleeve surrounding and spaced away from the central portion of the mold said sleeve having open ends at both extremities, improved means for providing for a proper flow the sleeve and the mold which consists in combining with one of the open ends of the sleeve an annular centrifugal pump of greater diameter than the sleeve and rotatable with the mold and operative to draw water through the sleeve and discharge it into the water box.

3. In a centrifugal pipe casting apparatus comprising a water box, a rotatable metallic mold extending through said water box and having attached at one end a driving sleeve extending over but spaced away from the adjacent portion of the mold so as to leave an annular chamber between it and the mold, said driving sleeve extending through the wall of the water box and opening at its free end into the water box and said rotatable mold having its portion extending through the water box provided with a perforated sleeve surrounding but spaced away from the mold, improved means for creating a flow of water through said sleeve and through the spaces between the driving sleeve and the mold which consists in providing at the end of the sleeve surrounding the central portion of the mold adjacent to the driving sleeve an annular outwardly extending conduit chamber provided with impeller blades and constituting therewith a centrifugal pump, in further securing in the space between the driving sleeve and the mold a circular partltion dividing said space into inner and outer passages connected together at their inner ends and in providing an annular conduit connecting the delivery side of the centrifugal pump with the outer end of the annular passage formed between the circular partition and the mold.

4. In a centrifugal pipe casting machine comprising a water box, a metallic mold extending through said water box, means for rotating said mold and means for bracing the mold against lateral deflection, consisting of an annular perforated sleeve surrounding the central portion of the mold but spaced away therefrom so as to leave a water channel between the mold and the sleeve and means supported by the sleeve said sleeve having open ends at both extremities for aligning the mold therewith, improved means for providing for a proper flow of water between the sleeve and the mold which consists in combining with. one of the open ends of the sleeve an annular centrifugal pump of greater diameter than the sleeve and rotatable therewith and operative to draw water through the sleeve and discharge it into the water box.

5. In a centrifugal pipe casting apparatus comprising a water box, a rotatable metallic mold extending through said water box and having attached at one end a driving sleeve extending over but spaced away from the adjacent portion of the mold so as to leave an annular chamber between it and the mold, said driving sleeve extending through the wall of the water box and opening at its free end into the water box and said rotatable mold having its portion extending through the water box provided with a perforated bracing sleeve surrounding but spaced away from the mold and provided with means supported by the sleeve for aligning the mold, improved means for creating a flow of water through the bracing sleeve and through the spaces between the driving sleeve and the mold which consists in providing at the end of the bracing sleeve adjacent to the driving sleeve an annular outwardly extending conduit chamber provided with impeller blades and constituting therewith a centrifugal pump, in further securing in the space between the driving sleeve and the mold a circular partition dividing said space into inner and outer passages connected together at their inner ends and in providing an annular conduit connecting the delivery side of the centrifugal pump with the outer end of the annular passage formed between and the mold.

PAUL L. ARNOLD.

the circular partition 

